Thoughts
about The Martian
Yesterday,
I went to the movies to watch Ridley Scott's The
Martian.
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and I had wanted to write a review of
the movie but Kevin Kim,
from Big Hominid, already wrote a great review for the movie, which
you ought to read for yourself here.
As
Kevin already covered more than I would have, seeing how I have never
read the book the movie was based on, I only have one additional
thing to add.
This
movie is a must-see for younger Koreans, especially considering how
popular the notion of “Hell
Joseon” has become among many of them.
 |
| Image Source |
This
article from Korea
Expose
describes
those who subscribe to the notion of Hell Joseon as those who “find
no hope for South Korea; they seek only to abandon and escape the
system altogether...
embodies
despair and hopelessness of the most extreme variety, the idea that
the South Korean state cannot be redeemed through effort.”
In
other words, Hell Joseon is just another incarnation of nihilism,
except that it has been served with Korean lipstick. Regardless of
the guise it has been portrayed, nihilism is the very antithesis of
the movie's core message, which was delivered by Matt Damon's
character toward the end of the movie:
“You
have to solve one problem and then solve the next problem, and then
solve the next problem, and if you solve enough problems, you get to
go home.”
This
is a lesson that many people, not just Koreans, often seem to forget.
 |
| Image Source |
Thoughts
about Forced Filial Piety
It
has been revealed that from the beginning of this year to September,
the National
Health Insurance Service has forced 39 people to pay for their
parents' national health insurance premiums.
To
be more specific, these 39 people had to pay
for their biological parents' national health insurance premiums.
Yes, these 39 people had been given up by their biological parents
and had been adopted by other families.
This
discovery was made despite the NHIS's claim that no such case
existed.
I
understand why someone would want to force someone's offspring to
pay for their parents' medical bills if the parents themselves are
unable. Firstly, the government, which knows that raising taxes is
not popular, would rather that old people's medical bills be paid for
by their children. Secondly, such enforced filial piety laws are
probably easier to pass in Korea because of the lingering effects of
(near pathological) Confucian values. And finally, though I seriously
doubt it would lead to the law's intended results, the
rationale behind such laws is to create “ideal” family
relations.
 |
| Image Source |
However,
all of those factors might have some merit if we were discussing
people who were raised by their biological parents. These 39 people were not raised by their biological parents and I assume that their
legal ties with their biological parents ended as soon as they were
adopted by other families.
It
is my professional opinion that now is the time to give the NHIS the
finger.
That
being said, the government has long been wrestling with how to combat
Korea's aging
society, part of which is exacerbated by low
birth rates. If people can have children, legally give them up,
and still be ensured that their children will some day have to pay
for their medical bills, that could be a novel way to turn Korea's
birth rates around!
But I hope that you'll forgive me for not leaping for joy.
